Prof Lee said: "There are some parallels between the challenges faced in any house and student life.

"Someone at some time will behave badly, not necessarily to you but to others or the wider community, to someone or some group who cannot defend themselves.

"In Shilpa Shetty you are graduating with someone who rose to that challenge with great dignity and poise, making a difference."

The actress was clearly emotional as she accepted the degree.

She said: "I am so overwhelmed, I am choked with emotions and I can’t stop smiling.

"I have won some awards, at the cost of sounding immodest, I have never seen my mother beam so much as she is today. I can see the pride in her eyes because she’s always wanted me to graduate."


Shilpa ’to star in London Bollywood show’ - June 27 2007
Shilpa Shetty is to star in a London musical, a newspaper reported today.

The Bollywood actress and Celebrity Big Brother winner will appear in the musical Miss Bollywood to open in London in September and later travel to Broadway, The Indian Express newspaper said.

"The whole song-and-dance routine of a musical really fascinates me and I think I’m a natural in the art," it quoted Shilpa as saying.

She said the musical was about a day in the life of a Bollywood actress and would give Westerners a glimpse of Indian traditions and customs.

"I want foreigners to get familiar with Indian culture. Racism breeds out of ignorance," Shilpa was quoted as saying.

A famous actress in India, Shilpa became internationally known after winning reality show Celebrity Big Brother and the racism controversy involving fellow contestant Jade Goody.

The Bollywood beauty has acted in more than 40 movies since her 1993 debut. Her latest movie, Metro, is a Hindi-language film about careers pushing love to second place.


Shilpa gets Global Impact award - June 11 2007
Shilpa Shetty has spoken out about the need to fight racism after accepting a special award for Global Impact at the Bollywood Oscars.

The actress, who was at the centre of the Celebrity Big Brother race row in January, said she was overwhelmed by the award which recognised "no other role but the role I play in my life".

Commenting on her experiences over the past six months, she said: "I’m glad that whatever has come out of it has been very positive and I’m happy when I see the joy on Asian faces, I see the gumption to fight back for their dignity if people are ever trying to trample over them."

Shilpa was presented with the award by the International Indian Film Academy at the lavish ceremony on Saturday.

She added: "An actor always gets an award for the different characters we portray. I think this is the first time an actor’s got an award for the person she is so it cannot be a better award than this.

"I think the biggest award of all is when I see the love and appreciation on people’s faces."

She also revealed that she’s very excited about her next venture, a musical called Bollywood To Broadway.

"It’s going to be an international venture and then if everything goes right I will be doing a Hollywood film," she said.


Shilpa to dance at Bollywood awards - May 22 2007
Shilpa Shetty will be showing her moves in a string of Bollywood dance numbers at the Indian movie industry’s biggest awards ceremony in Britain.

The Celebrity Big Brother winner said she was thrilled to showcase Bollywood’s song and dance before a British audience at the International Indian Film Awards hosted by Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, York and Hull next month.